August – 2005 – TRMW Archives

* FYI, this stuff is old. The current TRMW is here.

Here's everything I wrote in August 2005.

August 29, 2005

HOOLIGANSHIP

I just saw the coolest fucking DVD ever. It’s by Hooliganship. I bought it at Foodhole after I just missed Extreme Animals, who Marius tells me sound like Lighting Bolt doing techno, which is something I want to see, and, again, missed. But yeah, I heard the Hooliganship track on Bro Zone, which is all steel drums and summer vibes and I saw this kid carrying a bunch of CDs that said “Hooliganship” on them, so I went to buy one and realized I had no money. Thankfully dude was super nice and gave it to me on credit. Got home, put it in my computer and the DVD player started instead of Winamp and a very loud squeeling sound came out of my speakers followed by 20 mins or so of MIND-MELTINGLY AWESOME MUSIC VIDEO TRIPPINESS. It’s all rainbow-colored video game psych, sort of like what E*Rock and Paper Rad (or for that matter Wyld File, which is both of them together) do, but on some special Hooligan tip.

Totally the most entertaining and beautiful 20 mins I’ve spent in front of my computer in, um, a very long time. These guys are awesome!

PEEP GAME

View Comments • 8bit • bro zone • e*rock • hooliganship • psychedelia • video • wyld file

August 24, 2005

Foot Foot (mp3)

Last night my band Clap Amp played with this band Foot Foot at the Towne Lounge. It was our first time playing in a bar and I didn’t know Foot Foot’s music and I was pretty much feeling pissy and blah about the whole thing. We ended played probably our best set to date (which is still sloppy, trust me) and I had a really good time slamming my keys and dancing around. Even said something into the mic – “trippy”, basically that’s what I said. It was also our drummer Ryan’s last night with us before moving to Seattle, so it was nice to go out on a high note. Us three band dudes got shots after the set and talked about our band – I felt hella manly.

But what I really want to tell you about is Foot Foot. They are from Los Angeles, where they just played with the Dead Science. They play kind of shambly, weird, broke-down accoustic music with really pretty dual female vocals. It’s very simple music, but somehow feels a little bent and fucked up. Live, it’s kind of ragged and hoarse, which works quite well. On the demo CD they were giving away it sounds more quiet and clear.

I was thinking how they really need to play with 2% Majesty, and then I get an email today and, lo behold, they’re playing with them tonight. They’re really nice kids and the music is good – totally worth 2 bucks – so check it out if you’re looking for something to do.

tonight WED AUG 24

@DUNES [1905neMLK]

2% Majesty — majestic harmony chorus semblance congregation from our town.

Root Villa — first show for local folk composers featuring someones

favorite Rafn brother (and the girls scream).

FOOT FOOT (LA) — beautiful four piece folkestra humble vocals compassionate

arrangements

show is at 9pm

bring $2

and a heart

and after that – or during that if you’re not feeling the live music thing – is the first installment of me and Shayla‘s new collaborative DJ night at the Aalto! YES!! We start at 10, the Aalto is on 37th and Belmont. See you there? Yesssssssss.

View Comments • clap amp

August 22, 2005

Toothpaste Pixel Cartoon Psych

Metempsychosis member and all around cool dude Steig Retlin just posted a bunch of trippy and wonderful animations. You can watch his demo reel here, and there’s way more nice stuff here. Sweeeeeeeeet.

View Comments • metempsychosis • psychedelia

R.I.P. Moog

Robert Moog died yesterday. I never met the guy, but I did see the movie, and I’m a big fan of his work. He strikes me as someone who approached life with an intentional thoughtfulness and spiritual focus, which is all the more adimirable given the fast paced and competitive technology sphere he operated within. His passion for music, technology and the universe that holds them was inspiritional in the most laid-back and humble of ways. Here’s hoping he’s currently communing with that cosmic thing he felt between the circuits – he deserves it.

View Comments • moog

August 17, 2005

CRAZY FROG IS CRAZY

WHAT

THE

FUCK

***

Q: Why does this post keep getting “axel f” hits off google?

A: This happy hardcore sounding RINGTONE (!!!) remix of the Beverly Hills Cop theme is currently keeping Coldplay out of the #1 slot on the UK pop charts.

Further proof that the world is insane/hilarious/awesome.

View Comments • crazy frog • wtf

August 8, 2005

popfest day 3: awesomeness listed

My brain and my body are a dry brick, but my inner-smile will not stop. Let me try and explain why.

AWESOMENESS: extra-musical

** 18 year old all-star volunteer Mike Fuchs, you are my new scene hero. You ran the merch table all weekend, stood out in the parking lot directing traffic so total strangers could see bands, and generally blew everyone’s mind with your generosity and straight-up enthusiasm. You came to the after-party at 3 in the morning and we talked about the festival, what bands we liked, big ideas, etc. You loved We Quit, had never seen them before. You used to volunteer for community techno festivals in Florida, had some lucid compare-and-contrast insight to share. You talked about community, art, a lot of other amazing things I was too drunk to remember now, and your entire approach is solid and mature and exciting. You live with your parents in a suburb past the west hills that I don’t even know the name of. You are the future and I need shades.

** Keegan and his dad. Keegan is 13 years old I think. Him and his dad volunteered for the entire duration of the festival, TOGETHER. That’s the shit.

** Kid with blue hair that was there for every single set and danced his (her?) ass off for every single one. You look about 13 and you love music more than anyone I know. Rock, hip hop, electronic, out-rock – it’s all rad to you. Bands, volunteers, audience – you inspired them all without trying. I shouted you out from the stage at the end of the night but you weren’t there. I hope you got the message, because you are the message.

** Girl in a wheelchair who was there all weekend. You are a fan. Volunteers who carried that girl up and down the stairs all weekend, cradled in your arms, so she could see the upstairs sets. You are pure goodness.

** 2 girls with matching hot topic striped knee-high socks and cool kandie-meets-indie clothes. You made it your mission to pump up the crowd, always started the dance party, always received this band in the most fun way possible.

AWESOMENESS: musical

** Alan Singley’s sweet and lol hilarious daytime set

** We Quit’s precise twee lightning bolt pop

** Science of Yabra bringing the most o.t.t. rawk noise of the weekend

** Portland General Electro throwing glowstick wristbands to the crowd. Rave dancing with little girls wearing two on each wrist.

** Cancer Fags + Snuggle Ups = NULL. These bands are the logical inverse of each other. Think about it.

** Wet Confetti beefing with stoopid ass punk kids. About that: these kids, mohawked, spiked, moshing, almost knocked over some dude in a wheel chair, got yelled at, then proceeded to scream YOU FUCKING SUCK throughout the set. Afterwards, asked why they felt the need to act out thusly, the response was something like: “Because we’re not crybaby emo shits who want to slit our wrists and wear tight jeans. If we were gonna kill ourselves we’d jump of a bridge; you’d slit your wrists. That’s why we did it.” Being an asshole is not cool, but this is maybe the raddest thing a teenage punk could possibly say. Play on spikey playas.

** Fogatron was the off-the-chain beatbox machine I thought he’d be (this is meant as high praise); Manic D was suprisingly tight and funny as shit. Really glad I finally saw this.

*** STRENGTH – holy shit, this band is rad. Straight-up disco Jacko rip-off riffs meet uber-fey/gay-and-loving-it Stonesy rock-brat swagger. how does that work again? Not sure but it sooo does. The front man for this band is maybe the best I saw I all weekend. He’s totally doing the Jagger thing but not straight at all – take the gay part and turn it to 11, swap coke for ecstacy, and you’re getting there. He smiles and holds himself, touches himself, preens, winks at the audience, and flashes a 1,000 watt smile. Watching him is like watching a 30 minute sustained orgasm – almost too intimate, totally transfixing, on the verge of drooling-on-yrself bliss-babble candy-flip breakdown. I think I’m in love.

** The final set: Point Juncture, Blitzen Trapper, The Planet The, Talkdemonic – the ones I’d seen (blitzen, talk d) gave the best performances I’ve ever seen from them. The ones I hadn’t (tpt, pt juncture) totally blew me away.

AWESOMENESS: cold brains

** There’s a lot more I’m forgetting / too lazy to write about in this weakened state.

BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL
BEAUTIFUL

i love you, portland. i love you, life.

View Comments • pdx pop now

August 7, 2005

popfest day 2: soul hug

Yesterday, the second day of popfest, was a warm hug and a high five. I had some anxiety going into it: sequencing things as we did – out bands like jackie-o, electronic groups like ainu, pop groups like derby, and not one but four hip hop acts on the same two stages – is asking a lot of the audience, namely, wide open minds and hearts. Some of the initial reactions we got to this year’s line-up were really negative, like a big middle finger to the whole open-minded, one love concept. But what I saw yesterday was the opposite. Every single band that played received a warm reception, and every single band embraced a new audience. It was wonderful. Nice Nice played heavy ass experimental funk to a “pop” audience of 700 people, and brought the house down. Later on, special guest Lifesavas came out and got a crowd of tired, hot people out of their funk and into the funk, clapping hands, DANCING, and chanting “L-I-F-E” in celebratory unison. They finished off with a monologue – no, manifesto – involving community and independent culture that summed it up so nicely. It’s not about music anyway, really. It’s about breaking down walls between people and connecting through art, asking people to open their minds within this small domain, in the hope that this exercise might transmute to other parts of their lives, and in that small way make a better city, and a little better world. To whisper that in Portland’s ear and get a thousand YES’s back – that’s maybe the best thing ever.

View Comments • lifesavas • nice nice • pdx pop now

August 6, 2005

pre zzzzzzzzzzzz

Day 1 of Popfest ended with the Thermals playing “No Culture Icons” and Kathy sweetly leaning into the mic and saying “Enjoy the rest of the PDX Pop” – so yeah, exactly as it should have. Such a great first day/night. People were there from go, vibes were super positive, bands were good. 31 Knots were a personal highlight; never seen them before, Joe Haege is a rad frontman, molesting the awesome bassist, climbing the speakers, falling into the crowd, he puts on a show and then some. I was thinking they should open for Les Savy Fav but I guess they’re not together anymore.

Came home and opened the email (why? i don’t know) and there was a MENOMENA UPDATE in there. Turns out they have two awesome new videos – this one by Jonnie Ross (who I think I met at a birthday party a while back?) and this one by e*rock (it gets really nice towards the end). Danny from the band Menomena is playing with his other band Lackthereof at 7pm at popfest tomorrow. And that brings us back to doh.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

View Comments • 31 knots • menomena • pdx pop now • the thermals

August 5, 2005

August 3, 2005

Stereogummed

Hello Stereogum readers, and welcome to my humble blog zone. This is where I write about music – mostly of the electronic and rock and electronic/rock varieties – as it occurs in Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere. You got here because I posted some foggy ambivilences in regards to Target’s new indie rock ad campaign.

To be clear, I’m not trying to play punk-purist shot-caller (baller?) here, just pointing out something I stumbled on – scratch that, something that targeted me with lazer-sharp precision – and which seems to pack some kind of social relevance. In truth, a large part of me has no problem with this kind of campaign: if Target’s into it and the bands are into then that’s that, right? At least that’s what I told myself a year or so ago whilst playing a key role in a somewhat similar Nike campaign – so color me Fugazi? No.

But another part feels creeped out in a vaguely No Logo-ish kinda way. It’s one thing to place background music on a cartoon website, and another to create entire films dedicated to product-laden self-identification AND have real bands play in them (…right?). The difference is small but crucial, and probably has something to do with how convincing/realistic the “content” is, and the level of identification involved. I’m betting Jake and I have some of the same shirts, and I know we both like the Hold Steady. Or at least, I thought that was me…

So yeah: corporate culture, indie music, money, bands, Target. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.

In the meantime, those of you living in Portland should check out PDX POP NOW!, a free, all ages, local music fest I helped organize. It’s going down this weekend at Loveland, and it’s gonna be rad for reals. Oh, and yes, we’re corporate too. Damn.

View Comments • famousness • lifestyle marketing • stereogum • target